"Very ironic but also hilarious if my first title since pregnancy was on clay": Naomi Osaka jokes about winning Madrid Open 2024 after 1R victory

Naomi Osaka recently claimed tongue-in-cheek that possibly winning this week's Madrid Open would bring a host of diverse emotions to her following her first-round victory over Belgium's Greet Minnen at the Caja Magica on Wednesday (April 24).

Osaka has kicked off her campaign at the WTA 1000 tournament in Madrid on a fine note. The former World No. 1 didn't drop serve once to complete a routine 6-4, 6-1 win against the lucky-loser.

During her post-match on-court interview, Naomi Osaka made a rather funny admission. She stated that nabbing her first title victory on clay in Madrid, especially after her sabbatical from the WTA Tour last year due to her pregnancy, would be "very ironic but also hilarious".

"I would like to win a tournament on clay, I would think it’s very ironic but also hilarious if my first tournament (win back from maternity leave) would be clay," Osaka said.

The 26-year-old further insisted that she always has her sights on every tournament. She also claimed that she was eager to make up for her underwhelming record at the Madrid Open (she has made the quarterfinals only once in four appearances).

"For me, every tournament I play I want to win," she added. "I know that results so far haven’t shown that but I really think that something’s going to click eventually and when it does, I think I’ll be really good."

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Naomi Osaka: "I’m hoping that by the time the French Open comes along I’ll be a lot better"

Naomi Osaka hits a forehand at Madrid Open 2024

Naomi Osaka was happy with her first-round performance at the Caja Magica, claiming that the weight on her shots and her movement were on-point.

"I think I slid a couple of times to my forehand pretty well, so I was excited about that. She was hitting really good drop shots but I think I got to a couple quite well. I think just movement-wise I’m feeling a lot more comfortable," Naomi Osaka said after the match. "I think shot-wise, I hit a couple of heavy balls. Hopefully I’m able to continue that."

Towards the end of the interview, Osaka also spoke on her prospects for next month's Roland Garros.

"I think there’s a basis of my game and I want to stick to that but also respect the court," she added. "That’s something that’s a work in progress for me. I’m watching a lot more matches on clay, I’m trying to do my homework as best as I can, so I’m hoping that by the time the French Open comes along I’ll be a lot better."

Naomi Osaka will next face 15th-seeded Liudmila Samsonova for a place in the third round of the Madrid Open. The Japanese leads her second-round opponent 1-0 in their head-to-head record, as she got the better of the Russian in their only career match at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells last month.